MUMBAI: Former president of worldwide business affairs and operations for Sony’s Motion Picture Group and veteran Hollywood finance authority Andrew Gumpert has joined Paramount Pictures as its chief operating officer. The film studio’s chairman and CEO Brad Grey announced the hiring of Gumpert.

With this new role, Gumpert is in charge of business affairs, home entertainment and television transactional distribution. He will also oversee the studio’s operations ranging from strategic planning, to labor relations, to parks and resorts. Gumpert replaces long-time COO Frederick Huntsberry who was at Paramount for a decade.

At Sony, Gumpert arranged the studio’s financial partnerships with MGM, Lone Star Capital, Village Roadshow, China’s Dalian Wanda Group, etc.

Gumpert joined Sony Pictures Entertainment in 2005 as the executive vice president of business affairs for Columbia Pictures. Several reports suggest that Gumpert resigned from Motion Pictures Group on 8 November because of the studio’s chairman Tom Rothman’s micro-management and contentious manner. Before this, he led business and legal affairs for Miramax’s Dimension Films division.